SWEENEY RUSH RACING SERIES CREATING EQUALITY IN LATE
MODEL RACING THROUGHOUT THE NORTHEAST, MID-ATLANTIC & ONTARIO

By Doug Kennedy

August 24, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE

(Pulaski, PA)...Not everything is created equal, a
saying that couldn’t be more correct as it pertains to auto racing. Whether
it’s on the high banks of Daytona or the flat turns of a half-mile dirt track in
Pennsylvania, not all racing teams are created equal. The inequities that
create the chasm between the haves and have nots can be financial, mechanical,
or just plain lack of crew or sponsorship support.

These variables also apply to racers competing in the
Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Late Model Series; however, they don't
necessarily mean that a team cannot compete against those that are more solidly
backed. This factor is one of the main reasons so many drivers enjoy
participating and continue to support the RUSH Racing Series.

The majority of racers competing in RUSH consider
themselves to be anywhere from low budget to mid-range teams. In most cases,
one car is all the driver will have in his garage and the work on the car is
done in some cases by only the driver himself. Come race day, support can total
as many as four to five crew members or as few as zero. Many drivers fund their
racing operations by themselves or with their families with sponsor support
minimal or sometimes non-existent.

Tim Booth, who has been racing crates since 2009, doesn’t
have a garage at his house and relies on longtime sponsor and former masonry
boss, Vernon Ford to provide space for him to store his car and trailer and to
do work on his race car.

Booth continues to do bricklaying work for J. Keen
Construction and races only at Potomac and Winchester Speedways. “Those are the
two,” said Booth, who just turned 53. “I just can’t afford to go out and
venture too far.”

Booth went onto say, “The more overtime I work, the faster
I hope my car goes.”

A resident of Edge Water, Maryland, Booth is literally a
one-man show. “I have just the one car and do everything to keep it going. I
serve as the driver, the crew chief, owner, mechanic, and just about everything
else,” said the driver of the #95 RUSH Late Model. “No one comes to the track to
help me. I know when I was a kid I would be around race shops sweeping the
floors, but it’s not that way anymore.”

He says that if he would ever tear the car to pieces, it
would probably take him out of racing for a long time, but he also went onto
say, “I love the sport and as long as I have the competitiveness to go out and
win, I’m not quitting.”

Twenty-year old Doug Gavette of Rushville, New York agrees
with Booth when he says that if the racecar incurred any major damage, it would
probably be lights out for at least that season.

Gavette’s single car operation is funded by himself, his
dad, Scott, and his mom, Janet. The one-car operation does have a few sponsors
that include Faro Pizzeria, Carley’s Collision, Campbell Motors, and Whiteman
Motors, but 80% of the financial side comes from the family. “We are a low
budget team for sure,” said Gavette- driver of the #9G.

His crew is a little larger than Booth’s and includes his
dad, who serves as crew chief, his mom and his sister Amber, who helps in the
garage at home and are the fans in the stands come race day, and Doug’s two
cousins, Jeff and Chuck Miles. “They are there for every race when they are not
working and provide as much help as they can,” said Gavette.

Brandywine, Maryland’s, Ben Bowie, is another of those
drivers who financially funds his own one car operation. “We are a small team
that doesn’t make much money,” said Bowie. “For us, we can go to a track and
finish in the top five and make $300 to $400 that pays for the weekend for fuel,
tires, the entry fee, and food. If we can do that, it pays for itself for the
weekend and is not a loss.”

Additional support comes from Ralo Enterprises, who helps
out with the tire costs, and Corbin Home Improvements, who also helps with tires
and fuel. “That’s pretty much it,” said Bowie, who races primarily at only
Potomac Speedway this year. “We tried to scale back a little this year.”

Like most everyone else, wrecking his car would put Bowie
in serious trouble. “It seems like its $1,000 every time you bump or hit
something,” said Bowie. “Fortunately, I’ve always been in a situation where I
got some side work or work overtime, or a sponsor will step up.”

For 15 years, Ben had one guy, Mike Thir, who he could rely
on to do anything dealing with the car. That all came to an end this year as
Mike has pretty much stepped aside and even though he still comes to the track
sporadically, Bowie has had to rely on two newcomers to his operation, Mike
Raleigh and John Sellner.

“The majority of the stuff, I’m doing on my own now and
they’re just backing me up,” said the driver of the #17. So for now, Bowie
serves as the driver and crew chief.

Thirty-one year old, Daryl Charlier of Midway,
Pennsylvania, runs 90% of his races at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.
Following an accident at PPMS in 2013 that destroyed his Super Late Model,
Charlier sold his motor in exchange for a crate car that was owned by Colton
Flinner.

Up until 2010, Charlier was racing a spec late model and a
modified on the same night at PPMS. One of his biggest moments came on a night
when he was able to win the feature in both divisions. “It was a fun
experience,” he said.

For the past two crate racing seasons, Charlier has footed
the bill, but also gets help from his sponsors, not so much with monetary
support, but providing services that he would normally have to pay out of his
own pocket.

For example Kane’s Ideal Trucking Services works on his
towing vehicle. Tri-State Motorsports is his dad’s racing business and affords
Daryl the opportunity to build racecar bodies and do chassis set-ups. NAPA Auto
Parts supports Charlier by supplying him with all his oil and lubrication.
Knucklehead’s Pizza supplies the crew with food every weekend.

“Food on a race night might cost me $150 and around $2,000
for the year, but getting the food provided saves me that expense,” said
Charlier.

2 Brothers Motorsports gives him discounts on racecar
parts. Donaldson Supply provides fuel for the travel costs and Cleetus
Motorsports provides some money. He estimates that 50% of his racing budget
comes from him and the other 50% is provided by his sponsors.

“My race winnings go straight back into car so I don’t
count it as out of pocket money,” said the driver of the orange #12.

Charlier also feels very lucky to have friends who are
concerned about his racing operation. Following a bad wreck last year that
nearly totaled his car, Charlier was overwhelmed by the number of people who he
didn’t even know that were giving him $50 to make sure he would be able to get
back on the track.

His crew is limited to his dad, Dale, Daryl, himself, an
old college buddy, John Kikta, and Daryl’s wife, Tanya. Her job is quite
expansive as she is in charge of making sure his uniform is ready and that the
transponder and RACEceiver are working, documenting changes in the racecar
during the evening, and is in charge of his Facebook page. “She sort of acts
like the general manger,” laughed Daryl.

Bryce Davis is running the Insinger Performance/Sunoco Race
Fuels North Touring Series in 2015 and is currently second in points. At 24
years of age, Bryce is now in his fourth season of driving a Crate Late Model.

“It’s a great series,” said the Cornell, New York
resident. “Vicki (Emig) and Mike (Leone) do a lot for us. The purses are good
and I really enjoy running it.”

Financially, Bryce and his father, Dave, provide just about
everything. “We have one good sponsor, Griswold’s ETR Services,” said Davis.
“80% comes from us and 20% comes from our sponsors.”

Davis, who considers his racing operation to be mid-range
also receives support from Close Racing Supplies, who gives him discounts on
racing parts. Joel Smith of Close is also there to provide technical support.
The rest of his sponsors, who average about $1,000 per season, are Loper’s Auto
Sales, Jody’s Hair Design, and Mike Palmer Heating and Cooling.

Last season, they bought a new Crate Late Model for around
$30,000. Bryce estimates their budget to be somewhere around $10,000 to $15,000
a year. “We need to finish in the top five or better,” said the 24-year-old
Davis.

But even though his budget might be a little higher than
the others, he also realizes that wrecking his car would put him down for an
extended period of time.

His three-man crew is there with him on race night for the
entire season. The crew includes his dad, who serves as crew chief, Fred
Griswold, who maintains the engine, and Jason Bown, who is the general helper
and grinds the tires.

“You can have a top five car for not a whole lot of money,”
said 26-year-old Jamie Brown of Jamestown, New York. “With a little bit of time
and money, you can be out front.”

Brown, who has been in a crate for the past seven seasons,
races mainly at Freedom and Stateline Speedways and also the events at Tri-City
Raceway Park as well as some other RUSH Series events.

Funding for the #135 RUSH Late Model comes mainly from his
dad’s business- Roger’s Auto, a 20-year-old car repair shop located in Lakewood,
New York. In addition, his step-mother puts financial support into the
operation with her business, Heintzman Accounting. Extreme Marine also provides
additional financial help, while two other companies, Applebee Motorsports and
Spartan Tool, supply the team with parts.

With two cars in the garage, it may seem that Jamie and the
team are well stocked, but they are in fact, trying to sell the second car
making it a one-car team.

But it’s the crew that sets Jamie apart from a lot of other
drivers. 70% of the time, its Jamie, his dad, and Jamie’s wife, Ashley, who are
the pit crew; however, when the team races at Stateline, a track a mere five
minutes from home, there can be up to six more friends and helpers who make the
trip to the track on race night. That list includes Randy and Clint Haskins,
Andy Latta, Corey Card, and a couple of other friends who hop in the truck to
help out. “Sometimes I don’t have enough work for everybody to do something,”
said Jamie.

The race shop is located right next door to Roger’s Auto so
everything is very convenient. “Every time I leave the shop I want to make sure
I have a top five car ready to go,” said Jamie. “But that’s the good thing
about the crates because everyone is on such an even playing field.”

Twenty-year racing veteran, Phil Potts of Trenton, Ontario
considers his racing operation to be upper mid to high budget. The two-car
Rocket Chassis team is run by Stewart Archer, the owner of Archer’s Poultry Farm
where Potts works as a mechanic.

“He’s the set-up god,” said the 43-year-old Potts of
Archer. The rest of the crew includes the body guy, Charlie White, the tire
specialist, Jan Steenstra, and the all around guy, Shawn Platt. “I have nothing
at all to do with the financial side,” said the driver of the #29. “All I do is
spend his (Archer’s) money.

Stewart is the type of owner who provides pit passes for
all his crew at their home track, Brighton Speedway. “When we go away, he pays
their way into the track as well,” said Potts. “I buy my own when I go to
different tracks because I believe if he’s good enough to let me wreck his
equipment, I should be good enough to pay my own way in.”

As for the financial side, Archer supports the car with
help from a group of sponsors that include Vanderlaan Building Products, Indewey
Excavating, Hutchesion Fuels, and Brighton Recycling. “They all help, but
monetarily it’s none of my business,” said Potts. “Not very many guys are as
lucky as me.”

Potts says that the operation is first class because
Stewart doesn’t scrimp paying for what the car needs or for safety issues for
him. “He’s a really good owner in that sense,” said Potts.

The RUSH Series has provided Potts the opportunity to
compete against different cars and competitors and at a variety of different
race tracks. His weekly schedule usually includes Can Am Speedway every other
Friday, Brighton Speedway on Saturday, as well as some touring races.

He also likes the fact that if he has a bad Saturday night
at Brighton, he can chase another RUSH Series track on Sunday to make up for his
poor performance.

Former driver and car owner of two Crate Late Models,
Larry Knowles, is impressed with the way the RUSH Series police their tracks.
“The thing that is different that we like is that they have a strong program for
“teching” the cars at the track,” said Knowles, who won four track championships
and 70 features during his 21 year racing career. “They know what they’re doing
and follow it up to make sure everything is equal.”

The two-car racing operation of sons, Brian (35) and Jason
(33) is funded by the family run business, Doug Gross Construction that is
located in Painted Post, New York. Larry and his wife, Janice, are the owners,
while the boys and their wives all work at the construction company.

“By owning the construction company, we’re able to support
the boys and give them some decent equipment.”

But even though Brian and Jason receive financial support
from the family business, it’s up to the boys to secure their own associate
sponsorships.

“The boys get their own sponsorships and we make up the
difference,” said Knowles.

“They make all the calls when and where they want to race,”
said Larry. “I’m there monetarily and at the track to help out.” The Knowles
Brothers are in their first season of running the entire Sweeney Touring Series.

Knowles who considers his racing operation to be middle to
high budget estimates that he spends around $8,000 for each car at the beginning
of each season.

He also likes what the RUSH Series offers as well. “They
have top notch people with drivers from full fledged teams down to the Saturday
night local guy. We choose it because it’s competing against a higher level of
drivers.”

"It's hard to believe that 2016 will be 10 years since we
have been involved with the development of crate engine racing throughout the
Northeast," stated Series Director Vicki Emig. "We are aware that some of the
costs involved in crate racing outside of the engine spec Hoosier Tires and have
escalated since the inception of the division. However, we are now able to
control our own destiny under the RUSH banner with the help of our
RUSH-sanctioned speedways and input from our racers. I speak with promoters
every day and express to them that I believe we are at a crossroads for the
continued success and growth of what we have all worked so hard to achieve in
crate racing. I have tremendous confidence in them and know that when we gather
together soon to discuss these concerns that these issues can be corrected and
continue to provide our racers a healthy and competitive Late Model series for
them to continue to compete in into future."

E-mail can be sent to the RUSH
Racing Series at [email protected] and snail mail to 4368 Route 422,
Pulaski, PA 16143. Office phone is 724-964-9300 and fax is 724-964-0604. The
RUSH Racing Series website is www.rushracingseries.com. Like our Facebook page
at www.facebook.com/rushlatemodels and follow us on Twitter @RUSHLM.